The silence on the walk home had been truly deafening, save for the occasional squeaking sound of one of the tires on Anna's bike or the constant ratcheting of the gears as she walked between it and her currently mute sister. There were no words that could bring forth her voice, no questions asked that would be worth the effort of answering, and so the lingering, uncomfortable silence between them continued, allowing the younger sibling's mind to wander.

Where did Elsa run off to? Anna had followed the path easily; having been so used to being around her sister's chilly powers, she understood the difference between a frightened trail of frost and a piercing barricade of warning. She had caught up to Elsa just as her big sister was rounding a corner, so she couldn't know where her destination had been, or if she even had one at all. To this day she still wondered if she had known that she would flee to the North Mountain in Arendelle if anyone ever found out about her powers or if she just ran there and decided it would be her place of refuge once she arrived.

She thought back to the scene at the town meeting and bit her bottom lip as the Duke of Weselton's voice rang through her ears and called out her sister in the middle of the gathering, remembering how the townsfolk were quick to take his side and how some even accused her as being as vile as the Evil Queen or the Dark One. It wasn't fair of them to judge her so quick as many of them had never met her before they all came to Storybrooke, but in a way, Anna understood. They've heard rumors and they were weary of the power Elsa had when she was just a name to them; when she was revealed to be sitting amongst them, they got scared, defensive, and they projected all their fears onto her.

So she didn't blame Elsa for being upset or for running when her powers reacted to her feelings. She just wished she'd talk to her.

Elsa retreated to her room as soon as they got home but thankfully left the door open to keep Anna's own fear of rejection at bay. The redhead had texted David right away, telling him that they were both home, safe, and that Elsa wasn't angry, just upset. She'd promised him that the three of them would get together to talk soon, but only when Elsa was feeling well enough to have that conversation. Anna called Kristoff right after, quietly letting him know that the meeting went bad and she'd talk to him about it the following day, giving the man a sort of heads up to fend off any wild rumors he might hear at work in the morning.

Late afternoon slowly turned to dusk and once an hour on the hour, Anna would knock on the doorframe to Elsa's room, asking if she needed anything or wanted something to eat.

"No, Anna. Just leave me alone."

She had said the words, but Anna didn't know if she meant them. For years in their youth, the two sisters had been separated with Elsa saying something similar each and every time Anna tried to get close. Back then, the older sister had kept her door closed, shunning the younger and keeping her out of sight. But now her door was open… she didn't want to push her away, but she had little choice.

Anna kept trying to make the connection though, knocking on the frame and smiling even though she was rejected each and every time. One time she noticed the presence of snowflakes drifting in her sister's room, another time she watched sadly as frost grew slowly along the floor, creeping up the nightstand and threatening the lamp. The last time Anna had knocked that night the frost was mostly gone, but Elsa sat on the floor in the center of the room, surrounded in a circling barricade of outward pointing spikes of ice. The message was clear, not just to her but to anyone else who dared get too close; Elsa wanted… needed to be left alone, at least for now. She said goodnight and retreated back to her room, leaving her door open just in case her sister sought her listening ear before daybreak.

The mix of emotions in Elsa's heart raged with all the fury and sadness of a violent storm and she tried so hard to suppress it, to reign the feelings back and control the magic that sprouted because of it. Yet each time she had made progress, just one remnant of a scream or shout of blame directed at her served to undo the steps she had taken to calm herself. Doubt riddled her mind as guilt and anger wrestled with her heart; the haunting cries of confusion and the fear that plagued her soul blurred the lines between the chaos she caused at the town hall meeting and her coronation day.

It was hours after Anna had gone to bed that Elsa calmed down enough to try and do the same. Her circle of spikes was slowly beginning to melt, not from her own abilities but from the heat coming from the register vents in her room, and she carefully stepped over it to avoid hurting herself on her own creation. She changed into a comfortable pair of pajamas and laid down in bed, bringing the covers up to her chin and blinking at the blank wall, hoping that the calming darkness would take her and lull her to sleep soon and put an end to this horrible day.

Eventually she fell under after hours of tossing and turning, succumbing to the exhaustion caused by her endless frazzled thoughts and the stress that resulted from them. The ice she created would continue to melt through the night as the power that kept it solid grew lax the deeper she slept. There would be nothing but puddles as a reminder of the horrible day by the time she woke, but she'd hopefully be much calmer and able to deal with her problem rationally by the time the sunlight stirred her just as it did every morning.

She was awoken instead by the sound of a siren blaring down the street. Usually she was a pretty solid sleeper, able to block out most outside noises that tried to interrupt her rest and it was only typically from physical contact or obscenely loud noises that she would wake early. The siren wasn't particularly loud at the moment and she blamed her interrupted sleep cycle on anxious nerves that hadn't been completely calmed just yet. It was still dark out so she continued to lay there beneath her blankets, waiting patiently for the noise to go away so she could fall back to the resting tranquility she so badly needed.

The siren never quieted; it only got louder. Louder and louder until it sounded like it was just a few buildings away. Flashes of red and blue lights shone in her window through the curtain, illuminating her room with the colors and further delaying her sleep time. Bright blue eyes glared at the window, wishing she could send the sights and sounds away with just a thought when the siren was suddenly shut off, though the lights kept flashing. At the sound of a car door slamming shut, a panicked thought crossed her mind and she scrambled out of bed, pushing the curtain to the side and looking to the street below.

A local police vehicle was parked right outside her building, lights left on so anyone else in the area would know to stay away.

They're here for me… they're coming for me…!

She would have used the fire escape if there wasn't a man waiting outside of the doors; he would have spotted her easily and likely be held as a witness for her escape attempt. With no other options, she made a dash for her bedroom door, throwing it open and nearly running smack into her sister as she bumbled out.

Anna seemed alarmed, not having seen what her sister had as her room had no window, but she saw the panicked look on Elsa's face and found herself growing more worried as the seconds ticked by. "What's happening?!" she asked as she followed her out of the short hallway. "I heard the sirens and-"

She was cut off by the sound of someone's fist pounding the door to their apartment. "Open up! This is the police!"

They both froze in mid-stride, sharing horrified looks as the person on the other side of the door solidly rapped the wooden portal once again. Anna hurried to the couch, reaching beneath the cushion on the side she normally occupied and produced a pair of brown-colored gloves, a secret third set of the hand protectors kept hidden just in case if another pair got lost. She tossed them to her sister and gave her a reassuring smile when she put them on, imparting just a little bit of hope to the blonde as the door was kicked in.

David stepped in with a gun held in his hands, switching his targets between Elsa and Anna for a moment until he settled on the former, the more dangerous one. "Nobody move," he said calmly as he inched slowly into the room. "And no powers, either," he added, earning a serious stare from Elsa who raised her hands slowly to hip level to show the man that she had the gloves on.

He moved faster now, wanting to end the confrontation before something bad happened or got frozen. He looked at Anna but kept his gun trained on her sister. "Sit down," he ordered, watching as she slowly obeyed to avoid startling the prince. "Put your head against your knees and your hands behind your neck and do not move until I say so!"

Anna did as she was told and nodded to show her understanding, though that didn't keep her from trying to look at Elsa from the corner of her eyes. Her current position kept her from seeing much of anything, and so she relied on what she heard to stay informed of her environment.

Elsa looked around the room wildly, her eyes flicking back and forth between the gun, the man behind it, her sister sitting neutralized on the floor and the door that had been kicked in. Her instincts told her to back away from the danger but she fought it every step of the way, unwilling to land herself in more trouble. "David, I'm sorry I lied, but what happened at the meeting was an accident! I didn't mean to-"

"Turn around and put your hands on your head."

"David…"

He loaded the chamber of his firearm and tightened his stance. "I am not afraid to shoot," he informed her. "Turn around and put your hands on your head."

She did as she was ordered, standing there in the dim living room with her heart ready to burst out of her chest as she heard the gun being sheathed into a holster and the clinking sound of handcuffs. David took hold of one of her wrists and brought it behind her back, zipping shut a metallic ring tightly against her skin. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do…"

She blanked out as her rights were read to her and barely managed to nod when she was asked if she understood. With both hands restrained by the cuffs, David took hold of her upper arm and led her out of the apartment, allowing her only a brief glimpse of her sister's shaking form as she was taken away. Elsa stumbled down the stairwell, needing to be caught more than once to keep from completely falling.

When they exited the building she was met with the Duke of Weselton who looked up at her down his long, pointed nose. "I knew you couldn't be trusted after the first winter you caused!" he snapped. "Finally, someone around here has the initiative and tenacity to lock you up like the monster you really are!"

"I never wanted to hurt anyone!" she pleaded, trying in vain to make the stubborn, greedy little man listen to her side of the story. "I just wanted to keep everyone safe from this!"

"Tell that to Anna."

The grip on her arm suddenly grew tight to the point where it was painful and she whirled as the voice belonging to the man who arrested her wasn't his own. To her horror, it wasn't David who had retrieved her from the safety of her apartment… it was Hans.

He pushed her away and she stumbled until she fell, sitting on the sidewalk unable to get up again because her legs were so numb that every attempt failed. Hans stepped forward, his green eyes glinting in the darkness as he pulled the gun from his holster. "There were so many times when you should have died in Arendelle," he mused as he loaded a round into the barrel of the pistol. "And somehow you managed to ruin each and every one of the accidents I planned for you. I really should have just saved all of Arendelle and Storybrooke the trouble and let one of those guards from Weselton shoot you."

She watched him in terror as he paced back and forth between the apartment building and the squad car. "Hans, please…" she croaked, her voice quivering.

"You know, I actually regret not killing you when I had you locked up in the dungeon." He regarded the weapon in his hand for a moment, admiring the sturdiness of the grip and mechanisms before pressing the muzzle against Elsa's forehead and giving her a wicked smirk. "Poor little Anna doesn't even know. She isn't going to run in and save you this time."

She barely had time to gasp at the sound of the gunshot before she woke up and felt the response to the pain in her dream escape all around her, exploding almost in a frosted snowflake pattern that sprouted from her place on her bed, lashing out across the floor and climbing up the walls as the entire room seemed to freeze over. She held herself, shaking against the remnants of the nightmare and the reality of her situation: that even though she wasn't in Arendelle, all of her problems and the people who had been a part of them had come to Storybrooke with her. She looked around in the dark, urging her magic to stop, though her fear was all too real and much too powerful to contain. Closing her eyes, she thought of her sister, the love she shared with her sibling and the warmth it brought to her.

Even that wasn't enough to calm her fears and when she opened her eyes she realized a new one that sent her flying out of bed.

One of the arms of the snowflake that was growing from her bed was creeping out her door and threatening to stretch into Anna's room. Elsa rushed to her closet and took one of her older, paint-stained hoodies, bringing it to the threshold of the room and standing there in silence as she put a hand on her door and peered across the hallway, watching as her younger sibling still slept undisturbed despite all the chaos happening just a few feet away.

It was only for the night, Elsa reminded herself, and she closed her door, placing the hooded sweater at the gap between it and the floor to prevent her uncontrollable power from escaping any further. She returned to her bed and sat down, unable to fall asleep now as her room echoed with the snaps and cracks of ice growing and stretching, each little sound coming to her ears like a faint gunshot.

When Anna had left for work that morning, she took a moment to pause and stare at the closed door across from hers. Had something happened while she slept? Was Elsa okay? She had questions and worries, but to save herself from her sister's wrath by waking her too early, she settled on sending her a text message to her cell phone, simply asking her to reply back when she got up.

She was halfway through her paper run when Elsa finally texted her back, taking away her fear that something had gone terribly wrong during the night. Anna sent her one final message before she took off to finish her shift, warning her not to bring the paper in because the Duke of Weselton suddenly got a promotion to the front page of The Daily Mirror and his article was a slanderous recount of the town meeting yesterday; it was the last thing Elsa needed to be reading right now.

After she finished the delivery, Anna spent the rest of her day hanging out with Kristoff at his cabin, "helping" him repair the shed he'd built for Sven by scrutinizing his carpentry work. She stayed away from the apartment mostly to give her sister some time and space to relax or vent without the added pressure of trying to hide her magic for Anna's sake. When the redhead returned home late that afternoon, she was happy to find that there was no vicious mob standing outside her door ready to cart her magically gifted sibling off to jail and that the blonde had listened to her advice, leaving the newspaper untouched on the welcome mat. Anna picked it up and dropped it in the waste bin when she walked inside.

"I'm home!" she called unnecessarily as she made her entrance, spotting her sister immediately. Elsa had all the lights on in the living room and stood at her canvas, painting a dark scene that reminded Anna of the harbor in Arendelle on a clear night when the lights from the houses and the castle reflected in the calm waters. The woman who was recreating the scene also seemed to be at ease, the strokes from her paintbrush placid and steady.

Elsa looked over her shoulder, giving Anna a small smile as she dipped the bristles of the brush in a dollop of paint on her palette. "Welcome back," she said softly, watching for a moment as Anna took off her shoes and losing sight of her when the redhead wandered into the kitchen. "Did you eat yet?"

"No. Kristoff was going to make carrot stew but I bailed on him. I love him and everything, but I don't get why he has to have carrots in everything he makes," she sighed, drawing a giggle out of the blonde that made her smile. Anna opened the freezer, musing her options inside. "Are you hungry too? I was thinking pizza."

"As long as it's the stuffed-crust kind."

Anna smirked as she took the box in her hand and freed their frozen dinner from the cardboard and plastic wrap. "How did I know you were going to say that?"

It was still weird to them to have memories and knowledge of things in this town that simply didn't exist back in the Enchanted Forest, to have things that they liked here better than what was at home. They didn't have washing machines in Arendelle, or cars or microwaves, no telephones and certainly no pizza. The one thing that had truly stayed consistent from the crossover was the hot chocolate, but they both agreed that it was made better in Arendelle because they used to melt real chocolate bits in their drinks, the good kind that came from the town's chocolatier, not cocoa powder that was bought off the shelf in little pouches.

They ate quietly, both attempting to start conversation but it died quickly in the stiff and somewhat tense atmosphere. Neither one had brought up what had happened the previous day and neither one really wanted to; there was nothing they could do about it now but try and find out a way to calm the nerves of the spooked townspeople, but not today. Today was a time to rest and recover, to let the emotions pass so rational thought could be applied to the problem tomorrow.

If only one of them was capable of rational thought right now. Anna was growing frustrated with herself and her sister for refusing to talk about the situation they were in, about how the Duke's word was becoming the accepted truth around town because the sisters were too afraid of making things worse to properly explain themselves and get people to see their side of the argument of what Elsa's true intentions were.

Elsa, on the other hand, sat through the meal with a heavy heart and a guilty conscience, because despite how calm she seemed to be on the outside, her mind was a flurry of frazzled thoughts and mixed feelings. She eyed the clock nervously, the time approaching slowly to sundown, after which would be the best time for her to go through her end of the deal she had made with Regina. She barely ate as her nerves tightened the muscles in her throat, making it difficult as she swayed back and forth in her decision to go through with the plan or not.

If she didn't, she'd have to learn to control her powers on her own again, requiring her to keep her gloves on at all times or stay inside for weeks, months, or possibly even years until she could reel the magic back in. But if she did as she was told, if she cursed Storybrooke and made the residents suffer, made them fear her even more than they already did, she would get the help and the training she so desperately needed.

There wasn't a sign of any slip-ups around the apartment today because they had all been confined to her bedroom. The walls and floor in her room had grown thick with layers of ice and snow and it was only from the thought of Anna returning home for the evening that Elsa calmed and loved enough to put a temporary halt on her reckless magic. Painting had helped calm her further, but every now and again she'd be reminded of how her bedroom was currently serving as a freezer and the power would threaten to burst from her fingertips once more.

After they finished eating they retreated quietly back to their normal activities, Elsa to her canvas and Anna to the couch with a notebook and pen, scribbling little doodles and writing as if she couldn't get words out of her head fast enough. The silence between them continued and while neither minded the quiet, Anna felt completely at ease seeing her big sister out of her room in contrast to Elsa, who was growing restless as she silently fought off the attempts her magic made to escape due to her nerves stemming from the secret choice she'd have to make in just a few hours.

"Did you always like painting?" Anna's voice cutting through the still room surprised Elsa and she nearly dropped her brush, though her distracted hold on the art tool couldn't save the underside of the palette in her other hand from being coated in frost. She blinked at the question, readjusted her pose so Anna wouldn't be able to see the telltale sign of her magic and she went back to work, shrugging to begin her answer.

"Sort of. I used to like to draw a lot more because it was something quiet that I could do in my room and it wasn't messy, but I only really got into painting after…" she paused, her heart skipping a beat, "…after Mother and Father died. It just… I dunno, it relaxed me after all of those rushed lessons and meetings I had to go to in preparation for assuming the throne."

Anna stopped writing, smiling to herself and tilting her head back to watch Elsa continue the painting. "You used to play piano, too," the redhead reminded. "I used to hear you practicing and Mom would always scold me for trying to go in and watch."

"It got emotional sometimes," Elsa frowned, pausing in her work to visualize how the northern lights would look in the sky and the water's reflection. "When I was little I'd get mad because I couldn't play something the way I imagined it, and when I got older I'd get lost in the music and it took me places I just couldn't go. Mother was right to keep you out."

"Because of your powers?" Anna asked, completely turning around and laying on her stomach to see Elsa's subtle nod. She bit her lip, noticing Elsa's bare hands and how nothing in the apartment seemed to be the victim of an icy blast or outburst. "You seem to be doing fine right now," she mentioned, startling her sister into painting an unwanted green streak over the roof of a house. "Nothing's frozen and you're not wearing the gloves, so-"

"I can't paint with them on," muttered the blonde who dropped her paintbrush into a jar of rinse water. She spun it around irritably in the glass, frustrated that one lapse in concentration was now going to force her to redo the shingles on that rooftop and touch up part of the sky that had been smudged with green. She rested her fingers on the jar and turned her steely glare at her sister. "What were you getting at?"

Anna sat up, tapping her knuckles together and avoiding the icy blue of Elsa's eyes. "Well, I was just… I thought maybe we could go and talk to David tonight? He told me that he'd be at the station until midnight every day until they find a way to bring Emma back from wherever she is, and since you look pretty relaxed I thought that you might want to talk to him about what happened."

Elsa stared at the piece she was working on and closed her eyes, for a moment imagining the crackle of ice as she shook her head to the side. "I can't," she said, sounding completely defeated.

"You can't what?" Anna countered sternly. "You can't talk about it or you can't talk to him? What's wrong?"

Blue eyes opened, staring once again at the work in progress and grabbing hold of the paintbrush she had submerged in the jar of water. "Both," she admitted, tugging on the wooden handle of the small art tool and finding it impossible to remove from the jar. She glanced at it, sighing internally when she found the water in the jar frozen solid and her only distraction from this conversation stuck within it. She put her palette down on her work table and wiped her hands off on a towel she kept nearby to keep the paint off her skin.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or not?" Anna pressed with a hard stare that softened immediately at Elsa's worried glance. "Elsa, you can tell me! I'm on your side and I'll understand, but you have to tell me so I can help you!"

Elsa felt the rush of magic spring into her hands and she immediately clasped them against her chest out of instinct, backing away from her canvas and her sister as her heart raced to keep the power within. "No… Anna, you can't help. You have to-" she heard the crunch of frost beneath her foot and both sisters snapped their attention to each other, locked in each other's gaze for one long second.

"Just… Just stay away from me, Anna!"

"Elsa, wait!"

The blonde took off down the short hallway, taking an immediate turn through the door on the right and slammed it shut behind her, barely managing to lock it before the magic rushed forth and left spiked outlines of her hands around the handle and the wall next to it. She stumbled backwards out of fear as the first snowflake dropped in the frigid space that had been unwillingly decorated with icicles and interpretive sculptures created by her outbursts. Another snowflake came after, followed by another three and then a dozen and in moments it was just quite literally snowing in her bedroom.

She hurried to her closet, digging out a pair of shoes and slipping them on, casting her glance at the door briefly when she heard someone knocking at it. "Elsa!" Anna's muffled voice called from outside as Elsa pulled a dark hooded sweatshirt over her head. "Come on! Don't do this to me!"

"Don't shut me out again!" Anna cried as she pounded her fist repeatedly into the door, stopping only when she thought she heard movement on the other side. She stared at the doorknob hoping that it would be turned, but found herself being thrown back in time when her hope was dashed by stillness and silence. She clenched her fists, wanting to scream, wanting that door to open so she could slap Elsa in the face for being so stupid and ignoring just how much Anna was hurting from seeing her give up so easily and refusing to try and make it better.

Her cheeks were flushed as she stared at the white door, the same one that had been slammed in her face for so many years and left open for much longer due to a curse, only to be slammed on her once again now that it was broken. She hated this door so much.

She kicked it once, hoping she'd knock it down but gaining only a sore foot and ringing ears from the sound for her efforts. "You think you can just push everyone away to fix your problems, but you can't!" she yelled. "Alison was scared too, but at least she never shut me out like you do!"

Elsa winced, feeling her fragile heart fracture at the jagged edge of Anna's words and praying that there were no more because she would just shatter if there was. She straddled the windowsill with one foot touching the metal grating of the fire escape outside and the other brushing the frosted floorboards of her room as she listened to something thump against her door and slide down, Anna's defeat coming quietly as her words continued to sting in the wound she inflicted, the wound Elsa felt she deserved to bear.

"I'm sorry, Anna," she whispered before she slipped out onto the fire escape and quietly shut her window behind her.

This was a bad idea.

No, it was a terrible idea. What was she even doing?

She didn't know. She couldn't even think. Her cell phone kept buzzing, her head was swimming and she just kept walking, not even stopping in her hasty steps as she turned to glance back at the clock tower. It was past nine and a school night; no one was out on the streets save for a scant few people heading home from work or picking up some last minute things they needed for the morning. She kept her distance as she passed them, the hood on her sweatshirt hiding her nearly white hair and casting a shadow over her face, protecting her recognizable features from the illuminated streetlights and storefronts. The temperature in town had dropped dramatically over the past day, not that she really felt it, but she heard someone complaining about it when she walked past Granny's Diner and a patron stepped out, their breath visible in the apparent chilly air.

Shuddering from the knowledge of what she was subconsciously doing, she quickened her pace and shoved her hands in her pockets, wishing that she had managed to procure a pair of gloves to help hide her powers before she left. Then again, they wouldn't have helped much as she seemed to be causing a small flurry as she walked, noticing the occasional, distinct snowflake drift by her vision as she hurried down Main Street.

Elsa had thoughts of casting her curse right there in the middle of the street, creating the blizzard that would send Storybrooke into an endless winter before an audience so they could behold the true nature of the Snow Queen's terrible power. But as she looked around at the shops that would inevitably be ruined by the raging storm and the innocent bystanders who would witness the terrible event, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She kept walking, intending to cast her magic just outside the main part of town and let the storm creep in quietly.

And to be honest, she didn't know how to even begin recreating the events that turned her own kingdom into a frozen wasteland. Memories from that day were hazy at best, but she remembered feeling terrified, not unlike how she was feeling at the moment as she was completely unsure of what she was doing while the blue pulse of her power was simply waiting to burst free. She tried to clear the fog from her mind, to calm down enough to see what she needed to know from the memories of that horrible day.

There wasn't much to remember but a rush of terrible emotions and the horrified faces of her subjects as she unwillingly unleashed her power. The children, the innocent young ones who had looked up to her and were inspired by the poise and grace she had held herself with earlier that day, had backed away from her in fear of what she was capable of, screaming as they turned towards their parents for protection. Elsa had run down the closest passageway that led out of the castle walls, forgetting completely that the one she had chosen only led to the fjord and not a path out of town. She was stuck at the water's edge, backing towards it as Anna closed in on her, begging her to stop running as she heard the telltale creaking of ice forming at her feet.

Elsa stopped walking, thinking for a moment how everything that night had come together in an accidental curse. She had caused a good day's worth of snow just from her own fear, and as she looked to the sky now, she could see storm clouds churning in the blackness of the sky. The flurries that were following her were just a prelude to the inevitable. With a budding idea, she began walking towards the forest that cushioned the town of Storybrooke from the border, her destination being the old toll bridge just by the river's edge.

On the night of her coronation, she had frozen the waters of the fjord just by stepping on the surface. The ice had climbed up to the shores and scaled the sheer walls that protected her kingdom, aiding the dropping temperature and keeping it cold enough for her magic to stay solid.

She would do the same to Storybrooke. All rivers lead to an ocean, and in this case, the river led to the harbor. Once the water had been completely frozen over the ice would creep up the docks and seawalls, spreading through town and by then, Elsa was almost sure that she could get it snowing hard enough for Regina to be satisfied.

Taking a path off the side of the road, she passed the sign marking her destination and descended down a sloped, rocky decline towards the river's edge. The place was loud, obscenely so as the water rushed past her in the darkness, slamming into the bridge, rocks and anything that had managed to get stuck between them. It made it hard for her to think clearly and caused her emotions to swirl faster, her fear and regret overcoming her and sending her to her knees.

What am I doing?

This wasn't the right choice, she knew it wasn't. It was wrong to make these people suffer for her chance to regain some control in her life, but if she didn't go through with this plan, would she ever be able to hold reign over her power in this world? She convinced herself she couldn't; she spent thirteen years of her life in Arendelle fearing that she'd lose control and hurt someone with her magic and she did it twice to her own sister. She'd be damned if it happened again.

With a slow, shaky breath, Elsa stood and took a step towards the water, finally taking her hands out of her pockets to help balance on the uneven rocks of the shoreline. The skin of her palms were practically glowing in the dark and snow was starting to fall in scattered flurries, a prelude to what would become the perfect storm in just moments.

She took another step, hesitating when something bright shone against her eye and she backed up down the shoreline rather than head towards the rushing river. Turning, she winced as the beams of two flashlights were shone in her face and she stumbled in her backpedal, nearly falling against the smooth stones when her instinct tried to send her towards the water and back up to the road at the same time. The lights lowered and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness again, but when she did and she recognized the people who found her, her heart sank into the pit of her stomach.

"Elsa, stop!" Anna begged, stepping forward with Henry at her side. "Please, just… just wait a minute."

"How did you find me?" Elsa's words shook and she hid her hands in the pockets of her hoodie when she noticed the snow falling harder around her. Anna ignored it and she took a few steps forward, stopping when her sister seemed ready to back away again.

"After you locked your door I went out onto the balcony to get away from you because I was mad," Anna admitted, her face showing all the hurt she felt inside. "But when I walked outside I saw you climbing down the last part of the fire escape. I tried yelling for you but you didn't hear me, and by the time I got downstairs you were already gone."

"I called Kristoff and David," she continued, avoiding her sister's angry stare for getting the substitute sheriff involved, "and Henry came along too. We split up and I noticed… we both noticed what was happening," she said, motioning towards the boy. Anna had seen the signs once before; the dark clouds, the increasing snowfall and rapidly dipping temperature. She knew if her sister took one step in that river then she'd have to live through another Eternal Winter. "Why are you doing this again?!"

"I have to."

"No you don't!" Henry pleaded. "My mom set you up to this, didn't she?"

Elsa stared wide-eyed at the young boy, wondering how he had discovered the truth so easily when she and Regina had formulated the plan in secret just the previous day. He stood firm in his stance and took her silence as a confirmation of his assumption. "I followed the frost after the meeting," he admitted shamefully, knowing that he'd probably be scolded by both sisters for following one when she was at her most unpredictable. "You don't have to do what she says: You're a hero, Elsa! You're one of the good guys!"

"I'm not… I can't be. Look at this!" Elsa cried, taking her hands out of her pockets and showing the blue glow, watching in terror as ice formed on her fingertips and slowly began to creep up her arms. The snow was falling faster now, swirling around her in a way that nearly sent her over the edge of panic and made Anna's heart skip a beat. "I can't control this- stay away!" she begged when her sister dared to take a step closer. "I'm dangerous and Regina's the only person who can help me learn how to stop this!"

Henry didn't want to give up, even when his instincts told him to run. He watched as Anna struggled against the swirling vortex and instead of giving in to his impulse, he tried to aid her instead by helping Elsa see the lapse in her judgment. "She's just going to use you for her own plans; that's all she ever does. You can control it! You have to believe in yourself!"

"I can't…"

"Then believe in me."

Elsa blinked in horror as Anna stood within inches of her, sharing the small space in the eye of the storm as the wind there barely rustled their clothes and the snow swirled around them, never even grazing their skin. Anna smiled, reaching out and putting her hands on her sister's shoulders. The older sibling was just too dumbstruck to react to the touch.

"You don't have confidence in yourself here," Anna told her, feeling pained when she realized it herself. "You don't trust yourself, and you don't think that anyone else will trust you either, but you're wrong. I trust you."

The storm faltered. "Anna…"

"And I don't feel confident in myself either," she admitted, smiling weakly at the words. "You said that I looked comfortable working at the diner, but I'm not. I'm worried that I'll mess up, or that I'm not good enough to make people happy and make them want to come back, but when I saw you there that one morning and we talked… you made me feel like I was doing something right. You gave me strength."

Slowly, cautiously, she reached up and pulled Elsa's hood down off of her head. "You're my confidence when I have none, so let me be yours."

The swirling vortex dissipated; strong winds evaporating into nothing more than a breeze as snowflakes slowed and the last remnants drifted lazily to the rocks below, lingering for a few moments and melting as the air began to warm.

Elsa stood there silently, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks as the ice coating her hands began to melt and slide off her skin. She closed her eyes, clenching her fists and though her heart was filled with love, it throbbed with regret. "Please forgive me," she croaked. Anna responded immediately by pulling her into a tight, warm hug.

"I already have."

Time seemed to stop and everything was just right with the world in that moment. Storybrooke wasn't going to freeze tonight, bonds that had been strained were reinforced, and a power that was once raging out of control was finally calmed, flowing in sync with the rhythm of the heart that wielded it. They didn't hear the voices at first as shouting sounded above them on the road, so the sisters were startled when two men scurried down to the riverside.

Kristoff smiled in relief to see them both safe and smiled wider when he noticed they were holding hands without the aid of gloves. He gave Elsa a quiet but excited questioning look and she nodded, knowing exactly what he was silently asking. David had come down with him, clapping a hand on Henry's back and pointing a flashlight at the trio from Arendelle, focusing on the one whose recent actions had caused some chaos in the town he was trying to protect.

"I'm going to assume with all the happy faces that everything is all right now?" he asked, pointing his question directly at Elsa.

She looked down at her hands, aware the power within but not feeling like it was ready to jump out without her notice. "It's under control," she smiled, though her grin quickly faded at David's challenging smirk.

"Prove it."

And so she did, not right there at the riverside, but choosing to take the group to a local park instead. It was late, nobody would be there but them, and it had a pond; it was perfect.

She looked at Anna, smiling and feeling proud at the redhead's confident grin, and she made her move, touching the sole of her foot to the surface of the pond before she completely stepped out onto it, freezing the water out from where she stood and continuing to freeze it all the way to the bottom to ensure no accidents would occur. Pointing a palm downwards, she let a small burst of magic weave around her feet and form a pair of ice blades on the bottom of her shoes, perfect for skating the surface of the makeshift ice rink. She did the same for Anna and Kristoff when they came to join her, and once David and Henry finally saw that her magic was in her control, they joined in on the fun as well.

Elsa smiled as she watched Anna cling to Kristoff, wondering out loud why she even got onto the ice in the first place when she knew she wasn't good at skating. Henry had a little trouble as well, but after a little coaching from Elsa he got going good enough to where he was skating circles around David.

The prince seemed content to just make laps around the pond, but he didn't miss his opportunity to catch up to Elsa when he saw her doing the same. He watched her for a moment, seeing the content look in her young face as though the burdens of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. She noticed his smile and she smiled back, though it was brief and her mind focused on something else.

"I'm sorry I lied to you about being able to control my powers," she said, wincing at her own words. "I was scared that you'd treat me like the Duke of Weselton did when he found out and try to arrest me… or worse," she shuddered, suddenly remembering the nightmare that led to her poor decision-making tonight.

David shrugged, staring ahead as he skated. "Honestly, I don't know what I would have done. I'm not very familiar with Arendelle and before you sent word that Regina had threatened your kingdom, I believed that the Snow Queen was just a myth. Thank you for refusing to aid her, by the way."

Elsa repeated the prince's motion. "I didn't get a reason for why she wanted Snow White to be killed, and I'm sure that if I heard it I wouldn't have understood. It would have been a waste of my time and effort to kill her, and as far as I knew, she hadn't done anything wrong." She pivoted on the ice, moving swiftly and smoothly so she was skating backwards and staring David straight in the eye as she spoke. "She tried to lead me down a path of darkness by requesting my aid in the Enchanted Forest, and when I requested hers in this world she tried again to do the same thing. I feel like a fool for trusting her."

"You needed help and we all made you feel afraid," David realized, "but it won't be that way anymore. I know I can trust you now, and I hope you know that you can trust me, too. I know this place isn't the Enchanted Forest, but right now it's all we got. I hope you'll help me protect it until we get home."

"I'll do what I can," Elsa said, smiling widely until she realized what David had just said. "Wait," she gasped. "The forest… it still exists?!"

The prince nodded with confidence. "Regina revealed that to me after her own little stint at Town Hall," he said, recalling the first meeting they had that Elsa and Anna just missed; they only caught the parade of cars heading out of town right after. "I've seen a few others from Arendelle here; they're all worried about you and your sister.

Elsa looked over to the center of the pond where Anna was helplessly trying to stay upright on her skates with Kristoff's aid and smirked, being reminded again so quickly of what had been said to her just a short while ago on the shore of the river, of how they inspired the confidence in each other when they felt as though they had none. The former queen of Arendelle was slowly regaining hers tonight, and when she looked at David again her eyes were shining brightly with an idea that made her heart swell.

"Would you object to me holding a meeting of my own in the hall tomorrow?"

The next morning came quietly and peacefully without a ring of icicles hanging from the ceiling or a layer of frost on the walls. Sun pestered her awake, drawing her out of a restful sleep silently in the most irritating way possible.

Hell, Elsa didn't need an alarm clock. The sunrise did the job just perfectly without adding to her electric bill, anyway.

She got up quickly, eating a light breakfast of toaster pastries because Anna had gone overboard on the grocery shopping this week and they ended up with a dozen boxes of the things. She showered after, drying and combing out her platinum hair after getting dressed in a light blue tank top and white capris, matching the outfit with a pair of comfortable blue converse sneakers, her new favorite type of shoe since, for the moment, she didn't have too many outfits that went well with heels.

She stood at the mirror, braiding her hair in minutes, having done the motion nearly every day for the past fifty or so years, though twenty-eight of those same years kept repeating so she just chose to count them all as one. There was a pause when she came to her bangs and recent habit had her reaching for the black headband that rested on the countertop. She looked at the accessory and then turned her hand over, staring at her palm for just a moment before she was shoving both of her hands back through her fringe, weaving her fingers through her hair as she froze them back in place.

Elsa looked in the mirror, seeing herself for who she really was for the first time in a long time. Her posture straightened immediately at the casual but regal person on the other side of the reflective glass and she couldn't keep the smirk off of her face from the sight of her. "Perfect."

Satisfied, she walked out of the bathroom just as Anna walked into the apartment, noticing the return of her sister's iconic look as they passed each other in the living room. "Wow, look at you!" Anna smiled as Elsa headed for the door. "It's about time!"

"Thought I'd look the part," Elsa said, still holding her smirk as she grabbed her house key and cell phone off the kitchen table. "Did you deliver those fliers?"

"Each and every one, ma'am!" Anna saluted in a joke manner. "We're lucky that Oaken has a photocopier, otherwise I dunno what we would've done. And you owe me for making me work on my day off!"

Elsa laughed as she swung the door open. "Anna, you're a princess. You know that it's your-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I work for my people; you don't have to tell me. I'll see you at the Town Hall later," she smiled. "And good luck with your other meeting!"

"I'm going to need it," Elsa sighed as she waved and closed the door behind her. She should have felt nervous that morning when she left, but she simply didn't. She was full of energy, brightened by her recent revelation and emboldened by the support of her sister. As she marched down the streets of Storybrooke with her head held high, she felt as though nothing could shake the confidence that coursed through her veins as she made a beeline for Regina's house.

Regina hadn't explicitly stated that there would be repercussions if Elsa failed to uphold her end of the bargain they struck, but she knew better than to believe that there wasn't. She'd heard the rumors and had been on the wrong side of a bad deal with the Evil Queen once before; it was better that she got it all over with and out of the way now so she wouldn't have to deal with it later.

Elsa remembered so clearly the day Regina had sent a troop of black-armored guards marching through the doors of her throne room to deliver a request, more like orders, to help her kill Snow White in exchange for supplies and aid in restoring Arendelle after Elsa had caused it harm from her "Eternal Winter." At her refusal, the guards declared her an enemy of the Evil Queen and they attacked while Anna was trying to persuade them not to.

One of Elsa's own guards had pushed Anna away from the fighting and Elsa had encased her in a thick dome of ice to protect her from Regina's men. Though the fighting was intense, Elsa hesitated to use her magic offensively during the quick skirmish, only utilizing it to protect her own guards and dissuade any of the opposing ones from attacking Anna's dome. Despite her best efforts, Elsa couldn't protect all of her men, though she kept her hands clean from bloodshed even though she had been splashed by it during the melee and had to spend the night trying to convince her sister that she hadn't killed anyone, though if future threats existed she may just have to.

It was one of the darkest days Elsa had to live through during her short time as ruler of Arendelle. Her kingdom, struggling to regain a foothold due to her own terrible power, had been declared an enemy of the most powerful woman in all the Enchanted Forest. She didn't know if it was just sad or ironic that now they were both in Storybrooke she found herself knocking on her door twice in the same week.

Elsa didn't have to wait long to be answered as the door swung open almost as though her arrival was anticipated despite the brief show of surprise on Regina's face. "Well look who it is: The Failure," Regina quipped, pursing her lips and raising her brows as she looked down upon the blonde, the irritation displayed clearly on her face. "I must admit I'm disappointed in you. Surely it wasn't so hard for someone as powerful and out of control as you to make it snow a few feet in this town!"

The insults were deflected with no effort and Elsa stood there stoically, never wavering in her stance as Regina's presence seemed to be looming. She shook her head slowly, keeping her eyes trained on the woman who seemed to be emanating darkness just from where she stood. "I couldn't go through with it," Elsa boldly admitted. "Not like that. These people have gone through enough already and to force that on them just isn't fair. I won't hurt people and use them just to better myself like you do."

"You don't know anything about me," Regina said darkly. Elsa met her narrowed gaze with a smirk and a shrug of her shoulders.

"And you know nothing about me," she countered swiftly. "You had no idea who you brought to Storybrooke when you bumped into Alison Vinter that one night, did you? I literally had to paint you a picture just so you could figure out where I came from."

Regina's composure seemed to be crumbling at the force of her own anger and she stepped out of her doorway and onto the porch, standing mere inches away from the young woman who came to her so helpless just two nights ago. "We had a deal and you didn't uphold your end of the bargain!" Regina harshly reminded, scrambling out of the way of the embarrassment Elsa was trying to shake her with. "What are you going to do now? Run away and hide like the monster everyone believes you are because you can't control your powers?"

Again, Elsa shrugged, holding up her hands this time. "I've found my own solution," she smirked, letting a small burst of magic flurry above her palm. "I don't need to hide, not anymore. I'm sorry that I can't help you redeem yourself in the eyes of the people you've cursed, but I have issues with hurting people and shaming myself for someone else's benefit. You've asked me to do that twice now and I simply can't comply."

Regina's eyes were wide with her outrage. Unable to believe what she was hearing, she shook her head and smiled not in that fake way she always did when she was putting on the pleasantries, but in a way that actually sent chills down Elsa's spine and forced the blonde to take a step away. Regina closed the distance instantly.

"You know what? You're right. You did fail me twice," Regina smiled, tilting her head to the side before the corners of her lips twisted in a deep frown. "Not only are you an unpredictable threat, but you're stupidly choosing the wrong side. Those people would easily throw you under a bus just to be rid of you, but luckily for them, they won't have to dirty their hands; I'll do it myself."

Before Elsa could even think to react, Regina had lashed out at her, plunging her hand in her chest, phasing it through flesh and bone to wrap her fingers around something hidden within. Choking on a wave of pain, Elsa grabbed the woman's arm with both of her hands, willing her power forth and only managing to leave the beginnings of a frost burn as Regina forcefully ripped her heart out, sending her reeling in pain and grasping at a physical wound that simply did not exist.

Regina smiled, a true smile this time, as she watched the pale young woman shudder and struggle to catch her breath from the agonizing experience. "This is why you don't defy a queen," Regina told her, holding Elsa's heart out to show her the price she was paying for her lack of cooperation in the evil woman's plans. "I'm going to make sure that you regret ever ignoring those offers I gave you." She took in the horrified look on Elsa's face, the way she stood with her hands clasped against the spot on her chest where she should have had a heartbeat, and gave her one last wicked smile as she clenched her fingers and squeezed the object that sustained her life, intending to crush it eventually and end the legend of the Snow Queen.

Though when her fingers pressed against the beating surface, it didn't budge. Confused, Regina held it up to eye level, only to find herself troubled by what she saw.

Elsa's heart, a healthy crimson material that glowed internally with the pulse of her life, was completely frozen, covered and protected by thick icy veins of crystalline blue that had fused with the surface. No matter how hard she tried or how much pressure she put into her grip, Regina was unable to break the ice or even fracture it. Again and again she tried, and still Elsa stood, completely bereft of pain.

She stood there and watched as Regina repeatedly tried to kill her, pitying the woman for having so much hate towards her, or perhaps it was the woman's own hatred towards herself that made her react the way she was. After about a near minute of trying, Regina gave up, wordlessly questioning why her tactic wasn't working and simply resigned to staring at the heart, wondering why its owner, as monstrous as she was, didn't even have one spot of darkness lingering in her soul.

"My heart has always been frozen," Elsa told her, slowly approaching the woman who held her life in her hands. "People are afraid me because of it. They call me a monster and make up legends about me, scaring others into believing that I will freeze their hearts or curse their lands if they cross me. I never wanted to prove those people right, and more than that, I never wanted to use my magic in retaliation against those who shamed me despite how easy it would have been. My heart is my own personal curse, Regina, but it is also my power and I will never let it change who I am or what I believe in."

Regina held the heart between them as she listened to Elsa's words, finding her raging mind quieting as she spoke. There was a parallel between them, she realized, for when they were both in the Enchanted Forest they were both royalty, leaders of their kingdoms with magic that could be cast with a flick of their wrists. But when they both were feared for their power, Elsa had managed to win the love and adoration of her kingdom while Regina's people continued to bow their heads in an attempt to hide their scared faces as she walked by. She felt that she related to this young woman, this legend of the frigid north whose name had been whispered on words of wonder and mystery.

And secretly, Elsa gave Regina hope that maybe someday she would no longer be feared as well.

Slowly, Regina reached out with the heart in her hand, pressing it against Elsa's chest until it disappeared through her skin, causing the blonde to breathe in sharp relief when it returned to where it belonged. She blinked, looking at Regina in a mix of relief and disgust, finding that she had no more words for the Evil Queen that would serve to benefit either of them. She pivoted sharply and stepped off the porch, intending to leave the premises while she still had her curse beating in her chest.

"You have so much power, but you don't use it to make them respect you. Why?" The question was whispered, but Elsa still heard it from the path that led to entrance of the house. She stopped and turned slightly, looking over her shoulder at Regina standing alone in the open doorway.

"Because I am a queen," Elsa boldly stated. "A queen doesn't use her power to scare her subjects into obedience; she uses her power to protect them."

Satisfied, she turned back in the direction she was heading and left the mayor's estate. Her visit had run longer than she expected and she had a second meeting to attend to that afternoon, so she hustled towards the town hall with long, powerful strides without losing a single bit of grace in her hurry. She had a reputation for being punctual, and she wasn't about to let Regina make her late.

Elsa entered the town hall from the front doors but entered the meeting hall from a side passage, one that led up to the short stage at the end of the long room. She smiled as she ascended the steps, hugging her sister as they met at the top of them.

"I was getting worried!" Anna admitted as they parted. "I thought I was going to have to go on without you!"

"There were some issues we had to work out, but it wasn't nothing I couldn't handle," Elsa said with a smirk. "Is everything ready?"

"We're just waiting on you."

Elsa nodded, looking out to the bright stage from her hiding spot behind the curtain, feeling her heart flutter a little from excitement and nerves. After taking a moment to smooth out the folds in her outfit and make sure that her hair was properly placed, she walked out onto the stage with her sister following at her heel.

The murmuring crowd that had gathered silenced immediately at the first sight of her and it didn't go without her notice. She stopped behind the podium, folding her hands neatly upon the flat wooden surface as Anna took her place at her side, standing tall and proud as she looked out to the sea of people who silently waited for Elsa to speak. Elsa looked out as well, smiling warmly as she gathered her courage and let a little bit of her sister's confidence to boost her own.

"People of Arendelle," Elsa began, her voice clear, calm and strong through the microphone as she addressed her people, "I want to thank you all for coming here today. I know we are all going through a troubling time right now, but I had hoped that this gathering would allow us all to reunite not as a kingdom but as a community, to rekindle the friendships that were forgotten and return the loved ones who had been lost and scattered when we were taken from our home."

She paused for a moment, watching as some people in the crowd turned to each other and smiled while others, families, hugged one another or held hands. She didn't allow herself to sigh, but she was relieved that the main purpose for bringing her people together in one space had been fulfilled, and she was happier to know that most of her kingdom had made it here safely, though it didn't erase the guilt she felt.

Elsa bit her lip, her nerves fluttering at the thought of her next words, but for once they didn't come with the creep or crackle of her magic. "I have an apology to make," she said, bowing her head slightly while keeping her eyes trained on the people she had once led, sterilizing some of the happy faces at her words. "Arendelle was originally out of reach of the Dark Curse, but the Evil Que- Regina," she corrected, "tried to force my hand to aid in her vendetta against Snow White. I couldn't agree to it and she threatened our kingdom with the curse." She licked her lips, hesitating at the blank stares she was getting and feeling terrible for it. "I had hoped by sending you all north that you'd be able to escape it and that I'd be able to find a way to contain it if I stayed behind, but I failed. It is because of me that our home is lost to us, and no words can express how deeply sorry I am for bringing that curse upon our land."

There was a silence that fell over the crowd, some hushed whispers, but no yelling and no accusations. A man stood up and she focused her attention to him as he took of his hat and held it against his heart. "You sacrificed yourself for us," the man said, his native accent coming through thickly as he smiled behind his bushy mustache. "You protected us the best you knew how when we were all confused by what was going on. That is more than we could ever ask for."

There were cheers and nods of agreement, and suddenly Elsa found herself dumbstruck by the amount of thanks she was getting when she expected to be getting boos for allowing danger to come to her kingdom. She looked to Anna and her freckled sibling just shrugged and silently urged her to continue on with her speech.

When Elsa moved closer to the microphone once more, her people quieted again and she looked to them with pride swelling in her heart and with their hope gleaming in her own eyes. Despite how terrible she felt for allowing the curse taking them all here, she was happy to see them all coping with the reality and being generally accepting of her decision that cost them their home. "I cannot be your queen here," she said with a bit of remorse, "but that does not mean that I'll stop being your protector. Anna and I will continue to do everything we can to keep you all safe not as your rulers, but as part of this community."

She searched the crowd more thoroughly, recognizing more faces the harder she looked. She spotted the town baker and his wife sitting in the third row, a blacksmith sitting across from them and one of the tailors sitting right behind him. Fishermen were peppered throughout her audience and she spotted Oaken sitting in the back to kindly allow the others to see her without his large frame blocking them. Kristoff was smirking at her from the front row and just a few seats down from him, Kai and Gerda, her and Anna's personal caretakers since they were children, smiled at her with their approval.

The smirk she held wasn't smug; it was filled with the pride of her people and of her homeland. "Arendelle still exists," she told them with enthusiasm when she spied David and Henry grinning at her from the back of the room, "not just in the Enchanted Forest, but here in Storybrooke as well. I cannot tell you if we will ever return to the fjord and the mountains, or if we will ever see the northern lights outside our bedroom windows again, but for all the things that we may miss about our home, know that we carry it with us. Each and every one of us carries a piece of Arendelle within our hearts no matter where we are, no matter what curse we're under or whatever world we find ourselves in. So long as you remember and believe in the people you love the most, you'll always be home."

Silence ticked for a mere second as she stepped to the side of the podium, and then the room erupted into rounds of applause that she shyly blushed at. She looked to her sister who still stood politely, but when the redhead turned towards her she saw tears in her teal eyes. A smile spread across Anna's face as she clutched the gleaming golden pendant she wore around her neck, running a thumb over the inscribed crocus that remained as a symbol of their lost kingdom.

They stood there quietly as the applause continued, and in a show of respect to the people they once ruled over, both sisters bowed their heads, exchanging looks of excitement at the success of the gathering. As Elsa returned to her proper posture, she picked out a bit of her native tongue being spoken strongly over the applause and she smiled warmly in the direction it came from, unsure of who said it but completely flattered that they had said it loud enough for her to hear.

"Verðug dróttning stór."

Worthy Queen of greatness.